Curriculum Intent, Implementation and Impact

Intent

At St Mary’s our pupils are given the best possible opportunities to reach their full potential, spiritually and academically. We do this by promoting high standards of educational achievement, pastoral care and by modelling of the Gospel values.

We strive to build on the foundations of faith started at home as our parents are our children’s first educators. We seek to provide an environment where beliefs and values of the Catholic faith are taught, explored, developed and nurtured.  In conjunction with our parent community, we aim for all our children to believe in their own potential, in an environment where they can flourish, succeed and achieve.

St Mary’s pupils are skilled readers, confident writers, mathematicians, scientists, historians, geographers, musicians, artists, linguists, theologists, athletes, programmers and designers. Our curriculum is carefully crafted so that our children develop academically, socially and culturally in an environment where they learn possibilities are endless. We want our children to have no limits to what their ambitions are.

Implementation

St Mary’s Catholic Primary is an inclusive school where our core values underpin our curriculum. Our broad and balanced curriculum enables all children to experience opportunities that develop and promote positive wellbeing, strengthening their resilience. We follow the National Curriculum and in R.E. pupils follow the curriculum set out by the Bishops of England & Wales. The curriculum is planned and delivered sequentially, building on skills, with knowledge becoming embedded in pupils’ long-term memory. This is checked using rigorous assessment practices and quality assurance methods.

When implementing the curriculum we ensure that:

• Our curriculum is a reading curriculum underpinned by a commitment to children’s literature, story, and a love of books which is embedded in all subjects.
• We promote independence within the breadth of our curriculum
• We ensure we are positive role models
• We are aspirational for our pupils encompassing the various forms of cultural capital
• We learn how to love and protect our God-given planet
• We provide a creative curriculum that promotes a love of learning
• Pupils challenge themselves from their individual starting points
• Pupils understand how to improve their work through pupil conferencing and succinct marking
• We use effective questioning to check understanding and develop pupils’ thinking skills

Impact

Children leave St. Mary’s Catholic Primary School with detailed knowledge and skills across the curriculum and, as a result, achieve well. Learners are ready for the next stage of education and recognise that nothing is ever impossible. They read widely and often, with fluency and comprehension. Our children feel safe. They take risks, ask questions, make mistakes, learn to trust, share their feelings and grow.

We measure impact holistically by:

• Observing teaching and learning – recognising strengths and areas for development following a termly schedule.
• Assessing data to inform planning and strategy - Formative assessment is used daily by teachers to inform planning and establish any short-term interventions required. This helps us provide the best possible support for all of our pupils, including the more able. Summative assessment is carried out termly to inform longer-term planning and identify any interventions required. Assessment data, along with findings from monitoring activities including book looks, work samples, learning walks and observations and pupil and parent voice, are reviewed by SLT and used to inform curriculum development or any necessary adaptions to provision.
• Monitoring behaviour and relationships alongside our Mission Statement and information from questionnaires and CPOMS data